Can Newcastle really get Relegated?

The Champions have been decided and Arsenal and Manchester City are virtually assured of Champions League qualification, while there is only a small chance of a battle between United and Liverpool for fourth. Naturally the eyes move to the bottom of the Premier League table and once casting aside the woeful Queens Park Rangers and the disappointing Burnley, it becomes and incredible battle to avoid the final relegation place. A strange question may develop in your mind at this point, and that question is: “Can Newcastle really get relegated after having 35 points from 27 games?” and the surprising answer for the dismal Toon is yes! Here we look at the relegation run-in and show you how easy it would be for Carver to get the Geordie faithful an unwanted return to the Championship.

Sunderland – 33 points

Sunderland looked like a team with no ideas under the tutelage of Gus Poyet and seemed to be scraping to survival on the back of 3 weaker teams below them. Dick Advocaat was given the task of guiding the Black Cats to safety. He has delivered 7 valuable points so far in his 5 games and will look for 6 more to be sure of safety. Their run-in has four games as an away trip to Arsenal is the catch up game but they have arguably the toughest run-in. Away games against Everton, Arsenal and Champions Chelsea look unlikely to deliver any points. Which means they will have to beat Leicester at home in their other game.

Predicted points – 36

Leicester City – 34 points

Leicester City are the form team in the Premier League right now and have one of the most entertaining managers in Nigel Pearson, who produces some epic humdingers. They have also shown the reward of not firing a coach straight away as Leicester have collected 15 points out of the last 18 only losing to Chelsea. Their confidence is high and they have some exciting players. Home games against Southampton, who have just simmered away now, and QPR could see them pick up 6 points, even if they miss out on the game to Sunderland. It points to a very possible second Premier League season for Pearson and his boys.

Predicted Points – 40

Hull City – 34 points

Hull City’s run of back-to-back wins was halted by the Arsenal last night in a bit of a beating, but with Jelavic back they surely must be favourites to win their home game against Burnley. I don’t see them doing much at Spurs or against United on the final day of the season. Of course if they play like they did against Liverpool rather than the way they played last night, they could sneak maybe a draw against United or Spurs, but that doesn’t look too likely for me.

Predicted Points – 37

Newcastle United – 35 points

And so to the Toon, the worst team in the Premier League right now. 8 straight defeats including a 3-0 thumping from Leicester on Saturday that saw Newcastle finish with 9 men. Newcastle simply appear to be a team that, like their owner Mike Ashley, just have no interest. In John Carver they have frankly a ridiculously poor coach who seems completely out of his depth. They face West Brom and West Ham at home sandwiching a trip to Queens Park Rangers. On paper this is a relatively easy run-in, but if you think of the fact that they have picked up only 9 points in 2015 so far, but I just believe they will get 3 points somewhere and that will be enough in my opinion.

Predicted Points – 38

Aston Villa – 35 points

When Aston Villa sacked Paul Lambert in February they were lying in 18th place in the table with just 22 points. After the first two games under Tim Sherwood they were in 19th place and still had just 22 points. But slowly and surely the Villians have been accumulating points here and there including an outstanding win at Sunderland 4-0. Amongst this they have got Benteke firing and themselves in an FA Cup final for the first time since 2000. They have shown some great fight and in their run-in against West Ham, Southampton and Burnley I expect them to pick up a couple of wins as long as they don’t look too much at the FA Cup.

Predicted Points – 41

Predicted Table

Based on our predictions made above, here is what the final table would look like…

[table id=1 /]

So can Newcastle really get relegated? Yes they can, but our money is on the other side of the Black country derby, Sunderland. What do you think?